


There Goes the Sun

by fifthhollow



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-24
Updated: 2016-02-24
Packaged: 2018-05-22 23:45:44
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,272
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6097846
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fifthhollow/pseuds/fifthhollow
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"It takes several weeks for Cat Grant to admit what is happening, is actually happening, so resolute is she in ignoring this. Usually she would have been all over this since the first day. Usually this would have been taken care of by the following day, if not earlier, in a clean and efficient manner. There would never be a Day 2 or a Day 4, and let anyone who even conceived of a Day 12 head directly to a doctor for a head exam."</p>
            </blockquote>





	There Goes the Sun

It takes several weeks for Cat Grant to admit what is happening, is actually happening, so resolute is she in ignoring _this_. Usually she would have been all over _this_ since the first day. Usually _this_ would have been taken care of by the following day, if not earlier, in a clean and efficient manner. There would never be a Day 2 or a Day 4, and let anyone who even conceived of a Day 12 head directly to a doctor for a head exam.

 

Usually, if one of her employees, especially one whose name she can’t even _honestly_ remember half the time, began to glare at her through the walls of her office at almost every spare moment, she would send their file to Human Resources immediately for evaluation. Instead, she just takes his accusing and malice ridden gaze in stride. That was Day 2.

 

The strength of _this_ just continued to grow after that. It spreads through the top floors, the most important floors, of the building quickly and quietly, jumping among and between unwitting carriers breeding agitation and malcontent.

 

Usually, if anyone dared to so much as brush past the edge of her personal space unsolicited they would get a firm reprimand. So, it would seem reasonable, at least from the perspective of those that knew Cat Grant well enough to know of her escalation of punishment based on severity of infraction, that anyone who _purposefully,_ and she knows it was on purpose, shoulder checked her would be out the CatCo door, never to be seen again faster than Supergirl could fly off into the sunset.

But no, Lucy Lane continues to work at her company. After Day 5 she never does it again, but her smiles are noticeably, at least to Cat, false whenever they are in the same room now and anything other than pure business never gains voice.

_Completely professional._

Usually, she doesn’t pay any attention to Loise Lane’s boytoy. Sometimes he tags along, or is pulled along (which is altogether more likely), to their regularly scheduled monthly lunch meeting. (If either woman was ever asked about these ‘meetings’ she would claim to be watching the enemy for weaknesses and despite aliens and magic and love triangles and all other things in their lives Cat Grant can sit secure with the knowledge that _that_ will never change.)

The presence of Clark Kent has never been objectionable to her. When he joins them he usually sits silently, content as a spectator to their verbal sparring, until addressed by either party. She can admit that he has a certain sincere corn-fed All-American charm that makes him more endearing than irritating. All said, Clark Kent is easy to put up with and is actually enjoyable to be around most of the time.

But most of the time he doesn’t look like he wants to maim someone.

She and Loise are already seated when he comes over and sits beside Lane. The meal is halfway through when she mentions hiring Siobhan, and Clark’s face darkens (Cat can’t help but note that despite being a supposedly adept interviewer, he has a really open face). With the exception of Kent’s very obvious change in demeanor, and the ensuing worried glances from Lane, their lunch continues exactly as it always does, conversation composed of equal parts one-upmanship, sarcastic barbs, and actual discussion of current events. When they get up to leave, Kent leans into Lane and quickly whispers something to her, causing her to scowl deeply as they leave.

Cat pretends not to have heard the words “normal”, “Kara”, “mercy”, and “landing”. That wouldn’t have been _professional._ She doesn’t know how _this_ got to the Daily Planet (mainly because there is no _this_ she reminds herself, there is nothing going wrong) but it’s about time someone else suffered, it is Day 11, after all.

 

Day 15 found Cat almost firing Jimmy Olsen where he sat. She knows he has been just as effected by _this_ as Waldo, he just has a decent amount of subtlety stashed somewhere in his ginormous body, a stash that has just run out it seems. His words echo through her mind as she sits in her office, sipping the terrible coffee Siobhan brings her like clockwork.

_“What makes you think Supergirl has enough time for you? What makes you think Supergirl has enough time for me? She’s very busy saving the world, you know.”_

_“To us humans you may be a big deal, but to her, you are just one of many. If one day you are gone, there will be thousands ready and willing to take your place.”_

_“Make time? ‘Oh, I’m sorry officer, I couldn’t save that bus full of people, Cat Grant needed to chat.”_

Her anger rises up again, but the part of her that accepts his arguments as valid points swallows it back down.

 

Cat Grant breaks on Day 20.

She can’t pinpoint exactly why she broke then, at that moment as opposed to one leading up to it or one following it, mostly because she _doesn’t care_. All that matters to her in that moment is that she can’t continue to ignore the whispers and stares, the eyes averted into scowls, and the cause of it all.

Three years ago Kara Danvers brought the sun to CatCo, spreading light and warmth wherever she went. Her light was never too harsh as to burn, but it never failed to warm the hearts of those within CatCo’s walls.

Twenty-one days ago that sun imploded.

Twenty days ago a black hole was born in its place and proceeded to begin slowly but surely sucking up the light and warmth the sun had bestowed upon them.

Cat Grant could no longer deny that her world had been growing darker and colder, and that maybe some of it was her fault.

Because it was no longer being ignored, something must now be done about _this,_ about the black hole and the clouds it drags along in its wake, about Kara Danvers.

So she calls the younger woman into her office.

And they stand across from each other, a respectable distance away but still within arm’s reach of each other. Kara is standing up straight, there is no awkward flopping of limbs or fidgeting. Her face is devoid of emotion. _Completely professional._

The anger rises up again, she’s not entirely sure who in this room it is pointed at, but she uses it to begin.

She lays out Kara’s faults first. The words fly from her lips in an almost incomprehensible slurry that soon straitens itself into something resembling a comprehensible argument. Then she lays into herself. The words blur and warp as they enter her mind and again as they leave her mouth. She loses track of time and even the point of her sentences, picking up and putting down whichever seems best. She knows she confessed her love for the younger woman at some point, confessed her _need_ for the woman she was twenty days ago.

When all is said and done, Cat finds herself laying on the couch, emotionally spent and feeling hollow. She looks over at Kara, still standing, still staring at her clipboard. Cat thinks she can see twin trails of tears on the young woman’s cheeks but can’t honestly be sure in the current lighting. _When did it get so dark?_ She spares a moment to think.

Kara just adjusts her glasses and asks“Will that be all, Miss Grant?” The response is _completely professional._

So she just mumbles a "Yes" and turns her face into the couch as Kara walks away.

**Author's Note:**

> So I saw something in the Supercat tag on Tumblr about Kara possibly having too much on her plate after everything that happens in 1.13 to deal with Cat's mind games so she just kind of shuts down. So then this idea formed and made me write it. THIS IS A PRODUCT OF AGGRESSIVE PROCRASTINATION. I regret making this but I need to post it so I can get back to work. I honestly haven't watched more than like five episodes of Supergirl, mainly for time reasons,but my dashboard has me so into the show and Supercat vicariously. I'm sorry if this sucked.


End file.
